Oral care implements such as toothbrushes are typically used in conjunction with a dentifrice for cleansing the teeth and/or soft tissue in the oral cavity. The dentifrice or similar oral care product may contain one or more active ingredients which when administered with a toothbrush generally via a brushing action provide an oral health benefit to the user such as removing plaque and debris from the surface of the teeth and/or gums, polishing and whitening the teeth, reducing oral surface bacteria populations, and others.
Conventional toothbrush heads generally contain a plurality of tooth cleaning elements such as bristles which temporarily support the dentifrice during its application to the teeth and/or gums. By design, such bristles usually are formed into tufts containing numerous individual bristle strands (typically made of nylon or another polymer) and are primarily adapted for removing debris. These general purpose bristles are not optimized for polishing and removing stains from tooth surfaces particularly when used with a dentifrice containing whitening and polishing agents. The tips of the individual bristle strands make less than ideal surface area contact with tooth surfaces to achieve the optimum type of polishing action desired to effectively remove stains, and polish and whiten the teeth.
Oral treatment dentifrices such as toothpaste are available in wide variety of formulations including tarter removal/control, whitening, sensitive teeth, enamel protection, and others. In order for the user to obtain maximum benefit from such products, the dentifrice should preferably remain in contact with the teeth during brushing. However, the dentifrice typically migrates either into the mouth of the user from the toothbrush bristles which support the dentifrice, or is forced downwards in between and towards the base of the bristles thereby minimizing the effectiveness of the dentifrice.
A toothbrush head which better supports the dentifrice for application to the teeth during brushing is therefore desired.